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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page book review on Mark Kurlansky's Cod, A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World (1997). The writer summarizes the highlights of the book and then offers analysis, stating that Kurlansky creates a fascinating portrait of a commodity and how it has been influential force in shaping history. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khcod.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the World by Mark Kurlansky (1997), one is inclined to think so. In this text, Kurlansky ponders why the Atlantic cod, which has been known to reach the size of
a heavyweight boxer and once thrived in the millions in the North Sea is now commercially almost extinct. The answer is offered, actually, quite early on, at the end of
the prologue, where Kurlansky indicates that the fisherman of Petty Harbour, where cod is a tradition, are at the "wrong end of a 1,000-year fishing spree" (Kurlansky 14). Kurlansky
takes his readers through Western history via a focus on this tasty fish. The Vikings survived the initial trip of Europeans to North America by preserving codfish via hanging it
in the frost winter air until it had lost four-fifths of its weight. The medieval Basques traded cod and were able to travel great distances at sea because they had
learned to salt-cure cod. There were wars fought over cod, and it was intrinsic to other historical events. For example, the Pilgrims planned to subsist on cod, but knew so
little about fishing that they failed to bring the proper tackle. Kurlansky describes how the Victorians were convinced that cod could never be fished out, which supported the popular
view at that time which saw nature as indestructible. However, as Kurlansky also shows, no species or aspect of nature has this quality, and code is only stable if each
female produces at least two offspring that also manage to reproduce. As history advanced, humanity became more and more adept at catching this favorite food and cod has become more
and more scarce. While Kurlansky record legislation in various countries concerning fishing, he also makes it clear that nothing, thus far, has worked and the once prolific fish. He asks,
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